Sussex - We had two days down in Copthorne visiting friends David and Marilyn Neary. Sussex is a favourite county of ours and Laurie spent much of his childhood down there (Rottingdean & Eastbourne) and I spent time there as a 'Ladies Companion' in a lovely old 'Oast house' in 1990. The countryside down there has not been 'horribilised' as Laurie would say, as much as some of England so it is always nice to go back, each time we find more lovely villages and chocolate-box houses.

The Savoy Hotel - final 'pub' lunch for us prior to the Sorensons departure - not quite the pub lunches we have been enjoying, this was silver service in the Silver Grill. Ron had been here 30 years ago and wanted a repeat experience. Fortunately it lived up to its reputation and the meal was great, as was the champagne! The Savoy is to undergo a refurbishment, reportedly worth up to £100m, in a move that may see the historic building close its doors for the first time in 117 years so we are pleased to have been able to enjoy the old Savoy before the new one takes over.

Waddesdon Manor
After a week of R&R for us and an enjoyable bus tour to Scotland for the Sorensons we had three days left before Georgene and Ron returned to the US for final sight seeing.
First on the agenda was a visit to The Tower of London, enjoyed by all.
Sunday was Waddesdon, an extravagantly turreted chateau in the French Renaissance style, in Buckinghamshire. A superb house full of wonderful furniture, art, fabulous decor, another must for those who enjoy stately homes.

A 'first on the list of 'must-do' when visiting England is Windsor Castle - the State Rooms have to be seen to be believed. Of all the stately homes we have visited this would have to top the list, the burnt section has been rebuilt and looking absolutely stunning, we were running short of time as we had a 1.00pm luncheon engagement and only visited the State Rooms and this took us near enough to 1.5 hours. We had to queue for quite some time to get in, next time we will book in advance. We will probably do another visit during this trip to allow more time to take it all in - the china display in the first room was so beautiful we had to push ourselves into the next room and to be perfectly honest we could have spent a lot more time in all the rooms.

Today's stately home, Basildon nr Pangbourne, Berkshire - only a few miles away. Our goal was to visit the home used in the making of the 2004 version of "Pride and Prejudice."

Laurie, Georgene and Ron headed off to Portsmouth to see The Victory and The Mary Rose ship and related museums at the crack of dawn and as I have been there a couple of times I decided to give it a miss and go into London and meet friend Margaret for lunch. It was lovely to catch up again, (last visit to the UK we went to the Pudding Club and then she came over to Spain for a week whilst I was there on my home exchange last year.) I did think the £16.50 train fare excessive...
The other three had a great day - Laurie, Ron and Georgene all thoroughly enjoy history, whether ships, houses, museums or whatever. They spent four and one-half hours doing all the museums in the historic Royal Naval dockyards.

Harrods, Green Man Pub - here we are enjoying lunch in my favourite store! Days are beginning to lose sequence however I think it was Tuesday we had the morning in Harrods, and it was still as good as ever, improved in that one does not have to pay to go to the 'ladies' anymore! We then separated and the other three went off to the British Museum which they thoroughly enjoyed and I wandered along Oxford Street... Yesterday we took a leisurely drive down to Winchester, a favourite town of mine as I used to visit it regularly during my days as 'lady companion'. All were suitably impressed by the Cathedral, worth the visit to the town on its own, and then the Sorensons had their first 'English Afternoon Tea'.
I cannot believe the weather, it is so warm and sunny... Laurie obviously has a short memory because he says it is typical September weather, however I pointed out from my bible, The Daily Mail, that it is the hottest September so far since 1907... he does not believe that paper!
Another super Home Exchange, after a day out it is always nice to come back 'home' slip into something comfortable and have, as what Georgene calls it, an adult drink and maybe a bite to eat if we feel like it.
The other three have taken off today to Portsmouth to visit The Victory and the associated museums - I will take the opportunity of maybe hopping on the train and having lunch in London with one of my girlfriends.
Until next time...

Sunday 10th Sep 06 - another glorious day, sun shining brightly and temperatures in the early 20s. We started off the day with Mass at Westminster Cathedral (said by a Polish Priest), we then went on to a three-hour visit of Buckingham Palace. The State rooms truly magnificent and the furniture exquisite. Well worth the visit and I would go again, although I would not enjoy it in the height of the season as queues must be horrific. After a pub lunch we then did, for us, a nostalgic journey home via Barnes (could not see our lovely home for the overgrown garden!) and Richmond Park. Once again the London people were making the most of the glorious day and all having picnics amonst the deer in the Park. I think our American visitors were suitably impressed with all they saw during the day. They say the benefit of having almost native guides - taking them to places that are not necessarily on the tourist trail.

Henley-on-Thames.
A lovely afternoon spent looking at the shops of Henley following lunch at Pishill.

Friday 7th September, Still suffering from jetlag - it is 4.15 am and I am wide awake!
We have a great flight over, we got our chosen seats on Qantas to LA so arrived refreshed and a very smooth exit out of LAX airport to be met by Lois and Bill. We went to their place for a quick freshen up and then out to a very nice lunch. They dropped us off at the airport a couple of hours before departure again very smooth, went straight up to departures without any queue to be greeted with an upgrade on BA to Business Class which I have to say having full flat seats was such a treat and ensured a very comfortable trip.
Anne and Nick were waiting for us and as always with our house exchangers it was a very comfortable meeting - just like meeting old friends. Helen and Stuart arrived shortly after as they were taking a couple of suitcases to their house for us to pick up the next day (Hoptons very nice, comfortable car was too small to take our four bags).
It was so good to see Helen and Stuart after such an awful year. Helen looked much better than I expected and is also 'better in herself' than I expected. She is a strong lady and to have come through what she has is nothing less than a miracle, I am sure helped by Stuart's care and attention.
Our home for the next three months, is lovely and I am sure we will be very happy here. We have been out for a morning walk each day and the surrounding district is very nice.
The next day we dropped the Hoptons off at the airport for their journey to NZ and went over for lunch and dinner with Stuart and Helen. It was just as well they are such good friends as both Laurie and I had a sleep between lunch and dinner!
The following day our guests/friends from Green Valley, Arizona arrived. The poor things had a 2.5 hour transit through Arrivals as several flights arrived in at the same time. (I have to say here how tired and decrepid LHR is looking - New Zealand airport runs rings around it).
We brought them home via a scenic route - longer than expected as we got lost! Still they thought it was lovely...
Yesterday we went shopping to stock the larder then went and had a great pub lunch at Pishill - followed by a wander through Henley-Upon-Thames and home in time for me to cook dinner as Helen and Stuart were joining us. Had a great dinner and the Sorensons and Lanes seemed to enjoy each other's company. The Lanes are off to Marakkech today so I wanted them to meet the Sorensons before they left - we have arranged a pub lunch for the day after their return/the day the Sorensons go on the tour to Scotland. The end of the day the men went to bed and Georgene and I played on the computer! Lovely to have a computer buddy as she enjoys it as much as I do, we just have to make sure the 'men' get their fair share of our time!
Weather here is very summery, I have brought too many winter clothes! Laurie has been invited to a very formal dinner at the 'City and Guilds of London Clothworkers' Company An 1876 City Livery Company (Non British will have to check on the internet to see what a 'Livery Company' is) so has borrowed from Stuart a very smart Scottish formal dress outfit which includes tartan trews - he looks very handsome in it!
Until next time